Evaluating a marketing curriculum for English language learners

Part 1 – Student Needs
The identified student group for this curriculum unit is EAL or international students who usually fall behind in the classroom due to language barriers. The curriculum area to evaluate that will benefit the selected group is marketing. This curriculum area will cover two subject areas i.e. English language and Business. Through this curriculum area, EAL or international students will enhance their reading and writing skills in English while learning concepts relating to the marketing field. EAL Curriculum Framework Analysis and Evaluation The current curriculum is relatively ineffective in meeting the needs of EAL or international students, particularly with regards to reading and writing skills. The ineffectiveness of the current curriculum in enhancing the reading skills of these students is evident in the fact that they tend to score between 10 and 15% below average on standardized reading exams as compared to other students. While time limitations or factors play a role in their poor scores, the curriculum has also failed to improve their reading skills.
The specific needs that these EAL or international students have that must be addressed by the curriculum is improvement in reading skills. Through improving their reading skills, these students are expected to enhance their performance and achievement in standardized reading exams. By the end of the curriculum, EAL or international students are not only expected to master concepts relating to Business, but also improve their reading skills.
Part 2 – A Framework for Curriculum Evaluation
An important aspect toward achieving the desired goals and objectives of this curriculum is creating a framework for its evaluation. The framework helps to obtain insights regarding the effectiveness of the curriculum in relation to the desired learning outcomes and lesson/unit objectives. For this curriculum, the framework for evaluation is as follows…
CRITERIA
State as questions.
EVIDENCE
RATING

Alignment to Standards Does the curriculum align to relevant national or state standards? Are there specific standards that are aligned to this curriculum? Is it possible to determine the specific standards that align to this curriculum?
Yes. The curriculum has been designed based on the established standards for the subject and grade.
Yes. The specific standards are established in national or state Common Core Standards.

Yes. The specific standards can be identified through exploring the various national or state standards for this grade and subject area.
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Essential Content Does the curriculum content reflect national or state standards? Does the content support the learning objectives? Is the content relevant to the needs of diverse learners? Yes. The curriculum content reflects the standards since it was designed based on these standards.
Yes. The content was developed based on the desired learning objectives.
No. Some gaps have been identified between the needs of diverse learners and the curriculum.
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Integrated Approach Does the curriculum support the use of an integrated approach? Can student integrate information across disciplines through this curriculum? Does the curriculum support seamless interconnection of different content areas? Yes. The curriculum effectively supports the use of integrated approach to learning through allowing differentiated instruction.
Yes. The curriculum seeks to promote mastery of information and concepts in English and Business.

Yes. The curriculum integrates learning concepts from different subject areas, which support interconnection of various content areas.
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Instructional Methods Does the curriculum support the use of different instructional methods? Do the instructional methods help to meet students’ needs? Yes. Through allowing the use of integrated approach, the curriculum support the use of various instructional methods.

No. The instructional methods are not completely tailored to meet students’ needs as evident in the gap between average and EAL or international students.
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Rigor Does the curriculum reflect the specific needs of students? Does the curriculum promote the provision of quality education to all students? Does the curriculum support all students regardless of their learning abilities? No. The curriculum does not reflect the needs of all students in the classroom.

No. Since it does not address the specific needs of all students, the curriculum fails to ensure the provision of quality education.

No. The curriculum does not support all students as evident in the failure to meet the specific needs of all students.

0 1 2 3 NA

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Research-Based Strategies Are there research-based strategies that can be used to support the curriculum? Does the research-based strategies enhance student motivation?
Yes. There are numerous evidence-based strategies that can be used to support the curriculum.

Yes. An important component of research-based strategies is enhancing student motivation in order to improve their outcomes.
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Assessment Are the assessment strategies effective? Are the assessment strategies supported by research? Yes. The assessment strategies have helped to identify student performance.
Yes. The currently utilized assessment strategies in this curriculum are supported by research evidence.
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3 Part 3 – Curriculum Analysis The above framework for curriculum evaluation demonstrates that its has several strengths and weaknesses. In light of the rating of each of these components, the strengths of the current curriculum include effective alignment to national or state standards, support for an integrated approach to teaching, and supporting the use of different instructional methods. The other strengths include its support for research-based strategies in teaching and learning and incorporating effective student assessment measures. However, the major weakness of this curriculum is its failure to meet the needs of all students in relation to their learning capabilities. In this regard, the curriculum does not support competency-based learning, which is an essential component of curriculum planning for all students (Meo, 2008).
As previously indicated, one of the strengths of the current curriculum is its effective alignment to Common Core State Standards. The effective alignment is partly attributable to the fact that the curriculum covers two subject areas i.e. English language and Business. The state Standard that is aligned to this curriculum is PA Standard 1.2.11.A, which supports reading critically in all content areas (Pennsylvania Department of Education, 2014). This standard is also the basis with which the curriculum supports integrated approach to learning, use of different instructional methods, and essential content in different subject areas.
The current curriculum can be enhanced to support diverse learners through the incorporation of research-based methods.